Tag: Debt

The Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, says the debt profile of the state as of Thursday April 12. 2018 stands at N103bn.

He, however, promised that he would pay the debt before his administration concludes its term.

He said this on Thursday at the ‘2018 Conversation with State Governor’ programme organised by a civil society group in the state.

The governor who was talking on his successes and the ordeals of his government in the last seven years, said he was happy the residents saw the projects monies were spent on.

He promised the workers he would equally pay their outstanding cooperative deductions.

He said, “As I speak today, Ogun State debt profile is about N103 billion but because our people are happy, it keeps me going.

“You can go around to Ijebu, Yewa and even Abeokuta, you will see that joy in our people even those that do not know what they are saying, everybody is happy and it gives me joy.

“It is written in the two Holy books that, one must not allow the sweat of a worker to dry before you pay him or her and by God’s grace, I will pay the debts.

“You can see what we have done all around Ogun State, in fact, I have always ensured that before the 31st of every month, salaries should be paid. The same thing for the pensioners. If you check my phone now, you will see text messages of prayers being sent by pensioners.

“If you add the contributory pension scheme of both local government and state, it is about N1.30 billion which is not up to two months salary. So don’t worry, I will pay.

“The way I am trained as an accountant, the money made to be used for building must not be spent on feeding and vice versa. We would pay.”

Speaking on the state deplorable condition of the Lagos- Abeokuta Expressway, the governor also said the Federal Executive Council has given the nod for the re-construction of the road.

He said, “I have been on the neck of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Barrister Babatunde Fashola, but to God be the glory, yesterday at the FEC meeting the road has been assented to be constructed.

“In fact, I have been calling him to thank him but he has not been picking his call.”

The Federal Government has spent a total of N3.72tn to service local debts in the past three years, statistics available from the Debt Management Office have shown.

According to latest statistics made available by the DMO, the Federal Government spent a total of N1.48tn on actual debt servicing in 2017.

With N1.23tn and N1.02tn spent on domestic debt servicing in 2016 and 2015, respectively, these add to a total of N3.72tn in the last three years.

Among the various instruments that the Federal Government used to borrow from the domestic debt market, the highest interest was paid on the FGN Bonds.

In 2017, for instance, the Federal Government paid N982.66bn on the FGN Bonds. A total of N445.13bn was paid on Nigerian Treasury Bills; N22.99bn was paid on Treasury Bonds; while N25bn of the principal was repaid. An interest of N442bn was paid on Savings Bonds.

The Federal Government has been spending considerable resources in recent times on the servicing of domestic debts, thereby raising questions of the sustainability of the country’s debt burden.

However, the Federal Government has insisted that the nation’s debt burden is sustainable since it is less than 20 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product although less revenues have made the payment of interest burdensome.

This has motivated the government to move towards foreign borrowing since such loans attract less interest payment.

A recent statement released by the DMO put the country’s total debt profile at N21.73tn.

The DMO said the composition of the debt stock as of the end December 2017 showed that external debt was 26.64 per cent of the portfolio, up from 20.04 per cent in 2016, while domestic debt was 73.36 per cent, down from 79.96 per cent a year earlier.

Further analysis showed that the domestic debt for the Federal Government was N12.59tn, while that of the states and the Federal Capital Territory was N3.35tn.

The external debt of the Federal Government, states and the FCT was N5.79tn. This puts the total public debt as of December 31, 2017 at N21.73tn.

According to the DMO, restructuring of the country’s debt mix has led to an increase in foreign debts in order to minimise the high interest rate on local debts.

The DMO stated, “The key benefits of the restructuring of the portfolio are the reduction of the government’s debt service costs, lowering of interest rates in the domestic market and improved availability of credit facilities to the private sector.

“We repaid N198bn Nigerian Treasury Bills in December 2017 with the proceeds of Eurobond issuances, and we have continued further implementation of the strategy in 2018, with the issuance of the S2.5bn Eurobonds in February 2018, the proceeds of which are being used to repay maturing domestic debts, starting with N130bn NTBs repaid on March 1, 2018.”

According to the DMO, the borrowings are for financing capital expenditure and stimulating the economy.

The funds injected through the borrowings strongly supported the implementation of the Federal Government’s budget, which helped the country to exit recession in 2017, the DMO said.

It added that the total public debt as of December 31, 2017 represented 18.2 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP for the year.

This showed that Nigeria’s debt had continued to be sustainable and was well within the threshold of 56 per cent for countries in her peer group, the DMO said.

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Under President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria has grown its debt portfolio by N9.61tn, statistics available from the Debt Management Office have shown.

According to the DMO, Nigeria’s debt stood at N21.73tn as of December 31, 2017, while the figure as of June 30, 2015 was N12.12tn.

This means that within a period of 30 months – July 2015 to December 2017 – the country’s debt rose by N9.61tn, or 79.25 per cent.

In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday, the DMO said the composition of the debt stock as of the end of 2017 showed that external debt was 26.64 per cent of the portfolio, up from 20.04 per cent in 2016; while the domestic debt was 73.36 per cent, down from 79.96 per cent in 2016.

Further analysis showed that the domestic debt for the Federal Government was N12.59tn, while the domestic debt of the states and the Federal Capital Territory was N3.35tn.

The external debt of the Federal Government, states and the FCT was N5.79tn. This puts the total public debt as of December 31, 2017 at N21.73tn.

According to the DMO, the restructuring of the country’s debt mix has led to an increase in foreign debt in order to minimise the high interest rates of local debts.

The DMO said, “The key benefits of the restructuring of the portfolio are the reduction of the government’s debt service costs, lowering of interest rates in the domestic market and improved availability of credit facilities to the private sector.

“We repaid N198bn Nigerian Treasury Bills in December 2017 with the proceeds of Eurobond issuances and we have continued further implementation of the strategy in 2018, with the issuance of the $2.5bn Eurobonds in February 2018, the proceeds of which is being used to repay maturing domestic debt, starting with N130bn NTBs repaid on March 1, 2018.”

According to the DMO, the borrowings are for financing capital expenditure and stimulating the economy.

The funds injected through the borrowings strongly supported the implementation of the Federal Government’s budget, which helped the country to exit recession in 2017, the agency stated.

It added that the total public debt as of December 31, 2017 represented 18.2 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product for the year.

This shows that Nigeria’s debt continues to be sustainable and is well within the threshold of 56 per cent for countries in her peer group, the DMO said.

Speaking at a press conference to explain the debt status, the Director-General, DMO, Patience Oniha, said the debt grew because the nation went into recession and the government could not abandon the economy but had to spend.

She added that the current government had been spending more on infrastructure than other administrations in the past, adding that any foreign borrowing had to be tied to a project.

Oniha explained that it was necessary for the government to borrow to rebalance its portfolio such that domestic debts that had higher interest rates needed to be reduced with foreign debts at lower interest rates.

She said, “Through the issuance of particularly the FGN Bonds, we were able to transform the domestic debt market. If you look at 15 years ago, who will be talking about FGN Bonds yields? Using government securities to borrow, we have actually transformed the Nigerian market to the extent that there is now a dedicated institution known as the Financial Markets Dealers Quotation.

“We have had the positive sides. What the government is suffering is debt servicing. And that is why we are running a new strategy now. So, what we are saying is, if you look at December 2017, we have improved in terms of the mix of the portfolio.

“As you know, we also issued $2.5bn in February this year to refinance some of the domestic debts. So, give or take, we are at about 30:70 per cent foreign to domestic debt ratio.

“The actual debt service for the year is N1.67tn. Again, there are two issues you should look at there. The external component is only nine per cent, while domestic is 91 per cent. The domestic has grown and the rate has been high.”

Oniha added, “As a government, we have targets. The target is that domestic to foreign should be 60:40 per cent. Are we there yet? No; we are still at 73:27 per cent. We are not there even with the external borrowing we have done.

“The reason for the 60:40 per cent is that you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket. You don’t want to be dependent on one source for your funding. It is good to have a mix.

“For the domestic component, we said 75 per cent should be long-term, while 25 per cent should be short-term. We defined long-term in terms of FGN Bonds, and short-term in terms of Treasury Bills. Last year, we started by redeeming N198bn of Treasury Bills, but we are still not there yet.”

The DMO boss added that the country’s debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio remained low at less than 19 per cent, but admitted that the debt service to revenue ratio had not been good enough.

She attributed this to the fall in revenue, adding that the Federal Government’s revenue dipped by about 50 per cent.

According to her, the government is addressing the situation by tackling the issues that resulted in low revenue collection by the Nigeria Customs Service.

She added that the problem of tax evasion was being addressed by the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme initiated by the Federal Government.

Oniha said through the programme of diversification, the government was also addressing the problem of low revenue generation as a diversified economy would ensure that the country had several sources of income other than oil.

Responding to a question on the possibility of increased interest rate on commercial foreign loans, the DMO boss stated that though Nigeria’s rates were expected to improve with positive developments in the economy, a fundamental assumption was that advanced nations had better interest rates.

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Economists and experts have expressed worry over the utilisation of Nigeria’s growing debt profile.

In separate telephone interviews with our correspondent in Abuja on Monday, some experts who reacted to the worries expressed by the United States over Nigeria and Africa’s growing debt profiles resulting from massive Chinese loans, said Nigeria should be worried over the efficiency of the borrowings rather than the size.

The News Agency of Nigeria had reported that the US Department of State had in a background briefing on the visit of the Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, to the continent expressed worry that African countries were regressing to debt after debt forgiveness, which countries like Nigeria benefitted from between 2004 and 2006.

The Presiding Pastor, Latter Rain Assembly, Tunde Bakare, had on Sunday berated the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for borrowing in three years more than successive administrations of the Peoples’ Democratic Party had borrowed in 16 years.

A former President of the Nigerian Economic Society and currently Executive Director, African Centre for Shared Development Capacity Building, Prof. Olu Ajakaiye, said what was important was the efficiency of the borrowing rather than the size of the debt.

Ajakaiye stated that Nigerians should begin to question the efficiency of borrowing by the government, whether it was the present government or former administrations.

He said the purpose of the country’s current borrowings was good on paper but regretted that the budgetary process had been frustrating the roll out of infrastructure for which the government had been taking loans.

Ajakaiye also faulted the current strategy of the Federal Government to borrow from foreign sources in order to liquidate local debts.

Similarly, a development economist, Odilim Enwegbara, stated that although Nigeria’s debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio was better than those of peer African countries, the country’s problem was in the utilisation of the proceeds of debt.

Enwegbara said ordinarily, the United States should not be the one to talk to Nigeria on the debt profile because of its high indebtedness, but added that the nation had been profligate in the management of its debt resources.

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The total borrowing from the international debt markets by Nigeria and other countries in the sub-Saharan African countries has jumped to over $200bn, from $30bn in 2007, data from the Bank for International Settlements have shown.

This represents an increase of over 550 per cent within the period.

Governments across sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria are hitting international debt markets hard and fast to try to beat rising borrowing costs, pushing the region’s debt levels to new highs, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

While Nigeria has raised $5.5bn over the past three months, Kenya wants to borrow at least $1.5bn, and Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Senegal are all queuing up.

The flurry of bond issuance adds to an already-record debt tally for sub-Saharan Africa, which has ballooned to over $200bn from less than $30bn in 2007.

“If you have a lot of issuance in a short period of time, that tells you something,” an asset manager at Standard Life Aberdeen, Kevin Daly, said.

“Maybe these guys are realising that their borrowing costs are going to potentially go higher over the course of the year if we get a continued rise in Treasury yields and further rate hikes by the Fed.”

With investors busy assessing where the United States Federal Reserve interest rates are headed, the focus is now on just how vulnerable the region may be to such an increase, especially with a large pile of repayments also looming.

Rating agency, Moody’s, calculates Ghana has $4.5bn of bonds due between 2020 and 2026, Gabon has $2bn maturing between 2022 and 2025 and Zambia has $3bn between 2022 and 2027.

Meanwhile, Kenya’s first Eurobond payment of $750m, representing roughly one per cent of its annual economic output or Gross Domestic Product, is due in June next year followed by $2bn in 2024.

“For sovereigns which do not have long track records of repaying international bonds, this will represent a significant test,” Moody’s said in an e-mailed statement.

The increase in international debt issuance means “sub-Saharan African borrowers are now more exposed to shifts in global risk sentiment and external financing conditions,” if added, stressing the risk of rising borrowing costs.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is pushing ahead regardless. The country’s 2018 provisional budget has laid out plans to raise some $2.8bn this year.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, also wants to lift the proportion of dollar debt to 40 per cent from its current level of 27 per cent, to replace expensive naira bonds with 10-year interest rates as high as 14 per cent.

“Nigeria is focused on reducing the cost of our debt portfolio and ensuring we have the optimal mix between domestic and international debt,” she told Reuters.

“The proceeds of the dollar issuance – will be used to re-finance domestic debt, which is high-cost and short-term, with lower-cost international debt with a longer tenure.”

Debt levels in the SSA region are still low compared to many other parts of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa’s average public debt level surpassed 50 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product in 2017, according to The Institute of International Finance.

But there has been an explosion since 2005 when rich countries, for a second time in a decade, wrote off billions of dollars to help the continent out of its debt trap.

Part of the recent big run up in debt levels came as commodity exporters such as Nigeria, Zambia or Angola were forced to fill the gaps in coffers left by a 75 per cent slump in oil and some key metal prices between 2014 and 2015.

Combined with the related hit to growth rates, this triggered an outsized fall in sovereign credit ratings in the region which only now looks to be levelling off.

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An independent fibre optic infrastructure and telecommunications services provider, Phase3 Telecom, has denied being indebted to the Federal Government in the sum of N27.2bn.

The firm’s Director, Legal and Regulatory Services, Adebayo Azeez, in a statement on Tuesday, described as misleading media reports that the company and one Alheri Engineering Ltd. were jointly indebted to the Federal Government to the tune of N27.2bn over a fibre optic agreement which they entered into with the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

Azeez described the media report as scurrilous and unmerited, urging the public to disregard it.

The statement read in part, “Further to these, the company also chose to state that despite deployment challenges, which include multi-year delays in linesmen allocation by TCN and devaluation/depreciation of the national currency, Phase3 has ensured that all undisputed payments such as total concession fee payment, royalties, and rental payment for equipment space to TCN were up to date.

“Although a dilapidated fibre optic network was inherited from TCN, Phase3 has, however, deployed a total of 2,000km and installed state-of-the-art transmission equipment along with the rehabilitation of the existing fibre, which has seen concessionaires expend more than $100m as capital and operating expenditure on the project.

“The company stressed that the cause for unfounded allegations by TCN is due to its resistance of the harmonisation of right of way charges for deployment of fibre optic cables as agreed and communicated by the National Economic Council towards affordable broadband services in the country.”

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For a lot of people, budgeting, saving money and tracking their finances is difficult. That’s because we are bombarded with a bunch of marketing schemes every day that makes us want to spend rather than save our hard-earned money.

With these seven powerful money apps listed by www.forbes.com, you will learn to like budgeting and saving. Check out the list below to find an app that suits you best.

Clarity Money

Clarity Money is an iOS budget app that helps you control your finances in many ways, from cancelling wasteful subscriptions to creating a savings account. Aside from that, it also alerts you if you are spending more than your allotted budget in different areas of your finances. For example, if you are buying more groceries than you’re supposed to buy, the app will remind you before you spend.

Clarity Money uses artificial intelligence to analyse your spending habits. It uses the data it acquires to create a financial goal for you with a specific target date. Aside from controlling your spending habits, the app also helps you lower your bills by cancelling needless accounts and finding a lower credit card.

Mint

Mint is a budgeting app created by the same team who created TurboTax and Quicken. The app is available for both Android and iOS users. Mint creates a personalised budget for you based on the financial data you have. It also notifies you of unusual charges and advises you on how to reduce the money you spend on your monthly bills and fees. Most of all, it shows your credit score so that you will know the overall condition of your finances. All you have to do is connect your bank to the Mint app and let it do the dirty work for you.

What makes Mint standout over other apps is its investment tracker feature which helps users compare their portfolio with the market benchmarks as well as track all their asset allocations across all platforms, such as their mutual funds and 401(k).

Mvelopes

Mvelopes is a budgeting app that uses the envelope system and is available for iOS and Android users. The developer of Mvelopes believes that financial freedom does not come with a bigger paycheck but from how you manage your money. Therefore, it helps you manage your money by setting up a monthly financial plan for you based on your income. Aside from that, it also helps you manage your credit card spending as well as eliminate all hidden spending you might have.

In case you have difficulty with managing your finances, the Mvelopes team provides financial coaching and education on money management. Get professional advice from their Certified Budgeting Coaches and receive tools that will help you build your savings and eliminate your debts.

Unsplurge

Unsplurge is another iOS budget app but works with a different twist. It lets you save for something you love or look forward to. It works on the principle of delayed gratification where you save for something which you can splurge on later, like a vacation in France or a new car. Unsplurge also has a social network where you can share your goals and progress to the community, your family or your friends. These people act as your cheerleaders and motivators as they cheer you up for every goal met or encourage you in case you are lagging behind.

Good Budget

Good Budget is a budget app that uses the envelope system of budgeting. The only difference is that you don’t have to carry a bunch of envelopes with you. Just like the paper envelope system, you start by placing a certain amount of money for each expense that you have, such as groceries, petrol, transportation, eating out, among others.

One of its notable features is that it allows you and your spouse to sync your accounts so that both of you stay on the same page of the budget you have set for the family. The app lets you know who’s spending the money, where it is going and how much is left in each envelope. Good Budget is available on iOS and Android.

Level Money

Level Money is both an iOS and Android budget app which allows you to save money by telling you how much you can spend each day, week and month. It works like a GPS for your finances because it lets you know exactly where you are and gets you where you want to go financially.

Instead of just tracking your expenses and budget, it analyses how much money you have in your budget and calculates how much you can spend. If you have to purchase something bigger than your given budget, the app helps you plan how to do that. It also does the same way for your debt repayment.

Qapital

Qapital is a unique budget app because it charges your guilty pleasures and automatically puts the money you don’t use to your savings. It also enables you to set rules for your savings and identify the triggers of your expenses. For example, it reminds you to set aside a certain percentage of your income every time you receive payment from a client, an essential feature, especially for freelancers.

Aside from that, it rewards you every time you spend less than your budget or resist buying things you want to cut back by putting that unconsumed money straight into your account. On the other hand, if you spend more, it penalises you, which is also a plus for your savings.

All you need to do is open free savings account through Qapital. After that, create a savings goal and a trigger for your automatic savings. Lastly, link your bank account so that you can easily transfer money every time the rules and triggers are activated. Qapital is available for both iOS and Android users.

#Takeaway

Virtual reality

Virtual reality is best described as an illusion of reality created by a computer system.

A person may enter a world of virtual reality by putting on special glasses and headphones attached to a computer system running the virtual reality programme.

According to www.techterms.com, these devices immerse the user with the sights and sounds of the virtual world. Some virtual reality systems allow the user to also wear gloves with electronic sensors that can be used to touch or move virtual objects. As the user moves his head or hands, the computer moves the virtual world accordingly in real-time.

Virtual reality has been widely used for entertainment purposes, but the technology has found its way into the military and medical fields as well. While virtual reality systems have advanced significantly over the past decade, for the most part they are still more “virtual” than reality.

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Nigeria’s total debt stock has hit N20.37tn, the Debt Management Office has said.

In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday, the DMO said the total public debt stock comprising the Federal Government, the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, stood at N20.37tn as of September 30.

This shows a marginal increase of 3.6 per cent from the N19.64tn as of June 30.

A breakdown of the debt stock shows that domestic debt accounted for 76.96 per cent, while external debt accounted for 23.04 per cent.

Specifically, domestic debt stock stood at N15.68tn, which is an increase of 4.1 per cent compared to N15.03tn as of June 30. On the other hand, external debt stock stood at N4.69tn, a marginal rise of 1.9 per cent above the N4.6tn as of June 30.

According to DMO, the debt data lend credence to government’s claims that the public debt stock was skewed in favour of domestic debt which is partly responsible for the high debt service figures.

It is against this background that analysts have commended the government on its strategy of introducing lower cost external debt into the debt stock in order to reduce debt service costs.

For this purpose, the government is making arrangements to raise external funds of $5.5bn.

According to DMO, the amount which comprises of $2.5bn in new borrowing to part finance the N2.32tn deficit in the 2017 Appropriation Act and $3bn to repay maturing domestic debt is expected to achieve a reduction in interest costs of about N75bn and N91bn respectively when compared to the interest cost of borrowing in Naira in the domestic market.

The strategy will also contribute to attaining the target ratio of 60:40 between domestic and external debt, the DMO said.

Other benefits of the strategy, according to DMO, include increased availability of funds to the private sector and lower domestic lending rates both of which will enable the private sector contribute to growth, as well as, higher level of eternal reserves to support the Naira exchange rate.

But, in a statement by a former commissioner information under the Mimiko’s administration, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, the ex-governor said Ondo “did not incur any foreign debt in all its eight years” in power.

The statement said, “Our attention has been drawn to the speech made by the Governor of Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu on the state of finances inherited on February 24, 2017. We are concerned by the figures in the speech and feel obliged to put the records straight.

“For the avoidance of any doubt, our administration left about N20Billion in the coffers of the State at its exit on February 2017. This include: N7.37.Billion in the Current Account; N7.53Billion as Fixed Deposit; N1.2Billion in the MDG Account; $346,000 and 443,000Euro in the Domiciliary Account, including the N825million Sure-P fund at the Local Government Account!

“The above amount, most of which came late into our tenure was to be used to offset a chunk of owed salaries before the then Accountant General made a curious disappearance.

“On figures listed as External Debt, it is necessary to state the following. Our administration did not incur any foreign debt in all its 8 years! Also, the External debt stock as at February 2017 was US $ 49,958,268.49, which (if translated at 1 US $ = N305) is N15.23billion. All of these external debt stock was inherited from previous administrations.

“Again, we did not contract any external loan for all of our 8 years! Well aware of the fact that government is a continuum, we continued to service the debts, some of which spanned over twenty years.

“Of all the above-listed indebtedness, only the Ondo State 7-Year Bond was directly incurred by our government to build major infrastructure across the State.

“Yes, we experienced the sad reality of salaries arrears like almost all the States of the federation. That is why unpaid salaries for the period August 2016 to Jan 2017 was N32.40billion, with N20.93 billion owed State Government Workers and N11.469billion owed Local government workers, including political appointees.

“Even at that, it must also be clear that we left office on the 24th February 2017 while Federal Allocation for February 2017 salaries was received by the incumbent Government on the 28th of February, 2017. We could not have paid February salaries when we did not receive February allocation before exit.

“On Pensions, a sum of N4.8billion was said to be owed by the State Government and N25.237billion by the local governments. We wonder where these figures came from.

“At inception, our administration paid N1.5billion out of outstanding pensions and gratuities. All the years of our administration, monthly obligations to pensioners were considered and paid as part of salaries! The N32.40billion salary arrears is therefore inclusive of obligations to pensioners, except gratuity, which is owed both at the State and Local Government levels.

“While we note that gratuities are outstanding, we state for the benefit of all, that this is one sad development that was not peculiar to Ondo State alone. Almost all States of the federation have defaulted on gratuities in the last ten years or more.

“On yet another point raised in the speech, we are interested in knowing what N39.740 billion, said to be contractors liability means if outstanding requests at the Accountant General’s office is N5.45billion.

“We assume this may represent contracts awarded by previous governments which were yet to be completely executed since no clear information was offered in the speech on this figure. What we know is that if this were so, such figures can not be considered as debts until such contracts are executed at specified milestones, stages before which payments are not due. There can only be debts upon performance. What can be considered a debt, in all good conscience, are the outstanding requests at the Accountant Generals Office.

“We urge the government and interested citizens of our state to avail themselves of the true state of our indebtedness from the Debt Management Office and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). The reports are clear and unambiguous about the fact that Ondo State remained the least borrowed of the Six South Western States and of the 9 Oil Producing States as at our administration’s exit in February, 2017. This, in all modesty, must say a lot about our debt management record.

“We have a duty to set the records straight for posterity. And this we have done with no malice and or ill-feelings.”

In a bid to recover the N4.6tn owed it, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria on Thursday met with the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The meeting was for both agencies to consolidate the gains of their relationship, especially in the areas of investigation and prosecution of AMCON debtors in accordance with the relevant statutes.

The meeting between the AMCON team led by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ahmed Kuru, and the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, was to enable both organisations to take another look at some banks and their officials who were instrumental to the abuse and violation of internal processes that led to the huge non-performing loans in the corporation’s portfolio.

The agencies are planning to revisit, reinvestigate and duly prosecute such banks and the responsible officials, according to a statement issued at the end of the meeting.

Magu described the assignments of both agencies of government as “very tough, overwhelming and challenging,” adding that he was happy that AMCON under Kuru was doing everything within its mandate to confront the obligors with all the risks involved in the process of doing so.

He said it was for that reason that the EFCC established the AMCON Desk with dedicated officials who ensure that all AMCON-related cases in the anti-graft agency received speedy attention.

Magu assured Kuru that the desk would continue to be functional, adding that the EFCC was willing to increase the number of personnel on the desk if so required, and would be willing to establish a Lagos branch if necessary to make sure that the huge loans were recovered in the interest of the Nigerian economy.

Condemning the impunity with which those transactions were done, the EFCC boss affirmed that some of the obligors, who took loans without the intention of paying back, did not envisage that someday an agency like AMCON would come knocking on their doors and seeking to recover the loans.

According to him, giving the similarity in the objectives of both agencies, the there is a need for joint trainings towards fostering better understanding between AMCON and the EFCC.

While reaffirming the commitment of the EFCC to cooperate and provide the much needed support to AMCON, Magu urged the corporation to ensure that justice was done in all cases, because most of the obligors might not have acted alone in their unwillingness to repay, but might involve the connivance of some of bank officials whose motive was to cheat ab-initio.

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